How Take That met Harry Potter
by JoanneLamb
Summary: Two British products that I love: the Harry Potter universe and Take That. So I tried to put them together. Why did the boyband actually split up – Could It Be Magic? Enjoy, comment and do not take it too *siriusly*, it s fun!
1. Chapter 1: The werewolf

In June 2012 Queen Elizabeth II celebrated the Diamond Jubilee of her reign and as a part of national celebrations, Gary Barlow organised a huge concert outside the Buckingham Palace. He and his band Take That performed for the royal family in the past already, still he was sure this should be a most special evening for him. And he would not be mistaken: something really _special_ happened to him that evening.

Last preparations before the concert began. Of course there was police and security people, and above them all Randolph Riley, an MI5 officer introduced to Mr Barlow some time ago as a person in charge of the security. Riley was no James Bond but probably more apt picture of an intelligence agent: a dad in mid-thirties, rather a belly growing instead of muscles and slightly balding; Gary had sympathy for it and they got on well very quickly. They met backstage this afternoon. Riley restricted a corner of one corridor with a tape and a notice BROKEN FLOOR - DO NOT STEP and informed the chief organiser they needed this spot free „for security reasons". Before Gary could ask what it meant, another person distracted them: „You wanted me, sir? Everything´s all right, by the way."

„Thanks. This is the A-point as I told you," Riley showed his subordinate the DO NOT STEP notice and ordered him: „Check all incomers and then take your place."

But the boy (?) was not to be palmed off so easily, looking at the third person present: „Wow, you are Gary Barlow!"

„Obviously. This is Mr Stephenson, our security specialist," explained Riley to the singer.

,Mr Stephenson' must have been around sixteen only, short, dark-haired, dark-eyed, evidently full of energy and not ashamed at all meeting a popstar. He offered his hand to Gary: „I´m Rafael. I like your music, Gary, and I love Howard´s and Jason´s dancing, please tell them from me."

Gary was used to hear such things and the boy amused him, actually reminded him strongly of Robbie and possibly also Mark from the time when Take That began. But it was more worrying. There were teenage security specialists in MI5? Was it so bad with Her Majesty´s intelligence service?

„Mr Stephenson is young but very competent, that´s why we have him," answered Riley briefly when Rafael gave a little roguish smile and departed, jumping like a kid. „He will be in the front line under the stage and taking care so that the performers were safe and the concert passed off with no disturbances."

Either was it an example of British humour from Riley, or the security commander meant it, and Gary Barlow could hardly decide which possibility he would prefer.

„No, of course I´m of age, in your world too – er, mean I´m nineteen," answered Rafael with no hesitation when Gary met him shortly after again, accidentally, and couldn´t help to ask. „Left school last year, should be in a training course for… another occupation, no matter. But my girl got somewhat pregnant," he gave a smirk, „so I had to change my plans and take this job. Well paid, not very interesting most of the time. Tonight it´s fine, I can see the concert at least. Feared to miss it because of the full moon, was yesterday luckily. Pity you´re not performing with Take That this time, I would like to see you dancing. Yeah, and I must tell you, we did your song at our farewell party. Danced for it, it was great, although I normally prefer Backstreet Boys´ music for dancing. We did… Sorry."

Rafael suddenly jerked, as if he noticed something. Gary, obviously, noticed nothing, overwhelmed by the flood of words. But the pause wasn´t long. Rafael touched his ear and began speaking like into an intercom, with the exception there was no microphone and no receiver on him: „Mr Riley, I report an apparition, three people at least; do we expect anyone? I thought it. Not sure yet, somewhere around the dressing rooms. I´ll check it. – Excuse me," the last was to Gary, and Rafael walked quickly down the corridor.

„Is there a problem?" worried Gary, following him. He knew he should let the security people do their work, but he still wasn´t sure this boy was the best one for it; and this evening was the most important job he ever did (apart from reconcilliation with Robbie), he felt personally responsible so that everything was all right.

„Don´t speak on me, I need to focus," warned him Rafael, really having a concentrated expression. His right hand was on the front pocket of his jeans, Gary presumed there was a gun hidden. And then he noticed something: Rafael´s nose was slightly moving, the way Gary knew it from dogs. The boy was _scenting_.

„Mr Riley, I got them," he reported again into the well hidden microphone, „four, no, five of them, in the back corridor. Oh screw it, there´s the bloke Harry told us! ALERT! Randy, call Aurors, I´ll keep the scum back!"

Gary couldn´t hear what Mr Riley answered to his subordinate, whether they really were connected. Anyhow, Rafael ran pretty fast down the corridor, the singer barely keeping up with him. And then they saw five figures gathered over something. Strangers, according to their clothes. Dancers in the show wore funny costumes too, but those five men were definitely no performers.

„Your tickets, gentlemen, be so kind," asked Rafael loudly, confidently. The bunch turned to the newcomers. Instead of an answer, two men drew funny sticks and sent flashes of red light towards them. But Rafael was ready with a similar stick and deflected both flashes at once. The crashing noise and sparks convinced Gary it was not actually funny.

„You should take cover, Gary, this shall be hot," commented Rafael and, without further ado, shoved his companion behind a pile of chairs near the wall. Yet he seemed rather excited than worried, shouting: „Come on, you ragtag! I´m a werewolf, who wants to meet my teeth first?"

Whatever tactics it was, it held the strangers back. For a moment at least. Two of them exchanged something whispering. And then, with their presumed leader´s growl „Say good bye to the world, werewolf!" they attacked the boy all five at once.

But didn´t hit him. He deflected two flashes again, avoided the rest jumping up and even managed to strike back so that his enemies had to defend. Another attempt of the men to hit the self-proclaimed werewolf with their flashes – another failed attempt. Gary was only staring, he could never see anything similar: the most special kind of fight, and primarily the fact a short boy was equal to five adult men. Rafael seemed to be made of rubber, he used all kinds of gymnastic stunts to avoid their strikes. Gary caught himself thinking Take That could be inspired there for a new dance routine.

But when several flashes narrowly missed Rafael, Gary came to realization it was really no fun but a fight for life. And that he should help the boy somehow. There was a half-empty coke bottle on the pile of chairs that served him as a shelter. He grabbed the bottle, unscrewed partly and threw it against the intruders. And hit well. Of course a plastic bottle couldn´t hurt anyone, but the unexpected attack and sweet, sticky liquid splashed all around distracted the strangers. For a moment only, yet enough for Rafael to hit one of them directly with his flash. The man fell down voiceless and motionless. Dead?!

No time for Gary to think about it, now two of them aimed him. Rafael stopped the first attack but then his arm was hit, rather just licked by a blue flash, causing him a bleeding injury. Luckily for him, for both of them, another distraction came in the person of Randolph Riley. The security commander dashed into the fight with a roar and a drawn wooden stick (of course). The difference was he held it in his left hand and produced flashes and sparks shouting various words, probably Latin. And, to Gary´s unpleasant surprise, he was clearly not as good as Rafael, not by far. Two against four was definitely an improvement, the strangers paid no attention to the singer any more. The fight was even fiercer now, if possible, the most thrilling firework Gary could ever see. It looked like the intruders overcame their shock about the brave young adversary already. Rafael and Riley were pressed and it should be only a matter of time…

„Dean right, Ron left, and we want them alive!" Gary would swear another four people materialised in front of his eyes, coincidentally in Riley´s DO NOT STEP corner, and they entered the battle immediately. The shortest one of them was clearly their leader. His taller fellows, a black guy and one with bright red hair, assumed given positions while a black woman stayed at the side of her commander. The situation turned inside out. Four strangers, before a moment gaining high ground over Rafael and Riley, were now enclosed by the fresh reinforcement, raining spells or whatever it was on them. They defended themselves furiously, but the newcoming four was perfectly coordinated. In a while all unwelcomed visitors were lying on the floor. The six winners could lower their wands, and Gary Barlow could breathe out and remember something. _So Howard wasn´t crazy with the story, back then…_

„Nice to see you, Harry," „Hello Randy," commanders of the winning team shook hands.

„Thanks for help, you were right with your warning," said Riley.

„I´m grateful to you for this present," commented his colleague over defeated enemies, just being searched and tied by his two men. „We were after them for a long time, terrible fault from them to come today. Great job, Rafael," he patted shoulder of the young specialist who just received treatment of his injury from the black woman.

The red-haired man presented a bottle found in a pocket of one of their captures: „Voila, is it what I think it is?"

He showed it to Rafael who took a sniff: „Yeah, Polyjuice potion, clear so far. The main ingredient…"

„Is all around," said Riley. „That´s why they apparated here, in dressing rooms. They wanted hairs of performers to impersonate them, get onto the stage and attack the Queen from there."

„Perfect plan," nodded the other commander, „not counting with Rafael."

„As well as Voldemort never counted with you," laughed the red-haired. „Means they must have broken your anti-Apparition shield. Angelina, shall we check it? It only takes a minute." The woman followed him, they walked along the corridor and performed some more spells muttering quietly.

„And we shall transport them to the Ministry," said the commander.

„Do you want a Portkey?" offered Riley. „This shall do," he picked the empty bottle from coke and placed it on the floor uttering „ _Portus_ ".

„Thanks a lot, Randy, I´m hopeless about this spell. We´ll see each other later, okay? I don´t expect more problems. Dean, would you help me with them," the commander and the black man used their wands to move motionless captures to the bottle. Both gave good-bye to Riley and Rafael and touched the bottle…

„Harry!"

„We found another one!"

The woman and the red-haired man just pulled Gary Barlow out of his shelter, pointing their wands at him. The singer put up his hands silently, he definitely didn´t want to end up stunned. Like the five intruders, who just disappeared in front of his eyes, together with the man named Dean and the bottle from coke. (Gary was amazed he was not amazed at all already.) The commander, called by his people, left the bottle in the last moment and went to see another capture.

Rafael rolled his eyes: „Oh no! Gary, I´m sorry. Ron, Angelina, leave him, he´s our man."

„He´s a Muggle from the crew, no enemy," explained Riley. „I´ll settle it with him, it´s okay. I´m sorry, Mr Barlow, please stay calm, I´ll explain you."

Gary´s guards accepted the explanation and left him, yet the red-haired slightly reluctantly and seeing him with a suspicion: „I think I saw him somewhere."

His boss watched Gary closely: „No, I didn´t. Okay, Randy will take care of his memory and we shall go. Rafael, haven´t you changed your mind yet?" he turned to the boy for the last time. „I think I could get a dispensation for you so that you didn´t have to take the training course and could work with us Aurors directly."

„Thanks, Harry, but I´m coming to realization there could be enough fun for me under Randy too," grinned Rafael. „I meant Mr Riley of course, sorry, sir."

Gary watched the three strange people, heading to the DO NOT STEP corner, the red-haired performing a spell on their way that covered all traces of previous fight. „I still think I know him from somewhere," he threw last look at the ,Muggle'.

„Maybe one of the Muggle musicians Hermione likes," suggested his commander. And he was slightly younger from Riley, with messy black hair, bold green eyes, glasses and a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead, and Gary was sure he knew him although he never saw him before.

Three men stayed in the empty corridor. Gary looked from Rafael to Riley: „You two are wizards… too," he squinted towards the spot where their three obvious colleagues disappeared.

„Yes, we are," said Riley. „As long as international terrorists use magic for their criminal purposes, Her Majesty needs people of our kind in her services too. We are especially happy to have Mr Stephenson; people with his, well, _special condition_ ," Rafael showed his teeth and tongue cheerfully, reminding Gary strongly of Jason´s crazy grimaces when they were young, „have extremely sensible sense of hearing and sense of smell, what is a great advantage in our work."

„Yeah, and sense of fighting," Gary saw the boy with nothing but admiration.

„That´s not a werewolf property," grinned Rafael, „rather the thing I had good teachers."

„I would love to meet them then," noticed the singer.

„Well, they just departed, some of them," said the werewolf. „But Mr Riley taught me useful things too."

„I´m no fighter as you could see," said Riley, not bitter at all. „I specialize in other kinds of magic, such as obliviation. I´m sorry, Mr Barlow, but you are not allowed to remember last fifteen minutes."

He raised his wand but Rafael stopped his hand: „No, sir. Gary can keep a little secret, can´t you? Moreover he fought too, thanks for help," Rafael patted Gary´s shoulder as if they were best friends, and Gary accepted it.

„Well, we can try it," said Riley condescendingly and hid the wand. „You take your place, Stephenson. And I think that you are expected upstairs any moment, Mr Barlow."

„I wanted to tell you something, did I?" was Rafael still looking at Gary. „Yeah, I know. It was _Never Forget_ , the song we danced for at our farewell party. It was great."

„I´m sure it was," smiled Gary.

Rafael gave a salute to his boss, somewhat cheeky, showing it didn´t bother him at all whether he called him ,sir' or ,Randy', and left. Gary had to hurry too, as Riley said, the concert was just beginning. All the issues about the show were back in his mind, but there was one important task above all: he owed an apology to his bandmate Howard.

„What´s up with you, Gaz?" Robbie Williams, going to open the concert with his song, poked his friend. „You look like sleeping walking, any problem?"

„No, not at all, just thinking about something. Go on, Rob, you´ll be superb, I can´t wait to see you." Dear mate, Gary gave an inward sneer, you are known to believe in angels and aliens and whatever, but you are not likely to believe in what I would tell you.

„I´m always superb. Shame the Queen is not here yet," grimaced Robbie and entered the stage.

Gary observed the audience, applauding enthusiastically. Yes, the seat of Her Majesty was still empty, but he was looking for someone else, and satisfied when he spotted the dark-haired head under the stage. Gary Barlow knew already Randolph Riley was completely true: as long as Rafael Stephenson, a werewolf, was there, the performers were safe and the concert should pass off with no disturbances.


	2. Chapter 2: What really happened in 1995

„… so Harry Potter was looking at me from this close and Ron Weasley was pointing his wand at me," finished Gary his tale. The four of them were sitting in Jason´s living room, the most peaceful hiding place for three exhausted fathers, with Robbie absent as usually because he was expecting his only first child with his wife and tried to be a responsible dad. „I saw it on these my eyes, I was not drunk, I´m not crazy…"

„And I´m the grandmother of the Little Red Ridinghood," mimicked Howard sarcastically and lit a cigarette.

Gary looked into his eyes: „I apologize, Dougie, I said it already. I believe you."

„Great, ten points to Gryffindor," noticed Jason, rocking on his chair. „Because the four Aurors were all from Gryffindor." His tone made Gary nearly sure Jason regarded it a joke.

„I owe you an apology too, Howard," said Mark quietly, nervously, looking at the floor. „I… I found only recently, last Christmas, you know, and I would never tell you if Gary didn´t begin. But we have in our family… My great-uncle Lambert, you might remember him from our wedding, the bald one, you know. He´s… a wizard." He searched his pockets unwittingly in the manner of people who quit smoking shortly ago. „And an Auror. And from Hufflepuff, if you want to know."

„Ten points to Hufflepuff," appraised Jason, still rocking on his chair.

„We were at the uncle, me and the kids," told Mark. „Our youngest was singing a crazy song she invented, you know, and in one moment a hidden door opened. She uttered the password, you know: I never knew there was a door, it was perfectly hidden in the wall. And there was a room, you know, completely weird…"

„What was the password?" wondered Gary.

Mark screwed his face: „ _Dancing orange cucumber_. Nothing personal, Jay!, she amuses herself inventing stupid things."

Jason was completely serene: „Twenty more points to Hufflepuff as long as they use dancing orange passwords," while Howard burst into laughter and whispered to Gary: „He´s happy it wasn´t _f***ing orange_ …"

Mark went on: „The room was a shock. Plenty of ancient books, some of them sleeping and snoring aloud. A coat-stand with long cloaks and a weird broom next to it. One wall was full of awards, all dedicated to Auror Lambert Owen, you know, and signed by the Minister for Magic. There were pictures with people moving in them. Above the writing desk, there was a large yellow-black banner with a badger. And on the desk, there was a parchment and a quill writing something – you know, the quill was writing alone! I couldn´t read it because I heard uncle coming, so I closed the door quickly…"

„But your great-uncle examined fingerprints and they are expecting you in Azkaban right now," Jason suggested another part of the plot.

„You think I´m crazy, Jay, don´t you?" Mark looked at him. „I thought it too, didn´t tell even my wife…"

„Bingo, someone to understand how I felt, back then!" whooped Howard and hugged Mark strongly: „Markie, brother, come on my chest. Shall we have a sanatorium together, straitjackets, cold showers?"

„I don´t think you are crazy, neither of you," proclaimed Gary. „And I admit I wouldn´t be likely to believe you if I didn´t see the wizards personally."

„Well, sanity is just a point of view," Jason presented his thoughts, rocking on his chair and seemingly not excited at all hearing Gary´s and Mark´s stories, „we are crazy when other people regard us crazy, and the other way round. And personal experience does a lot of course. There was a man who even gained eternal fame for not believing until he touched physically, his name was Thomas…"

„… which is Jason´s middle name so why are we trying," sneered Mark.

„Sod him," swept Gary his hand and looked at Howard: „Would you tell me, please, what you saw back then in Manchester – what _happened_ in Manchester that day?"

„Tell and I swear I´m not going to laugh at you this time," Mark encouraged him too.

„There´s a progress now, kidz," Howard enjoyed satisfaction. „Not so sure whether I didn´t forget, I was supposed to, wasn´t I? Okay. A group of girls attended all our shows since mid-1994, wearing some kind of weird school uniforms, we never knew how they were able to be there always… No matter, you don´t remember and you wanted to hear about _that day_. So that day, in March 1995, when we were just to set out for the European tour, the girls appeared directly at our rehearsal – materialised from nowhere."

Gary and Mark nodded in understanding, listening to him carefully.

„Apart from their weird clothes they were like all fans, giggling, asking curious questions and so," went Howard on, „we talked with them for a while. But just when you, Gaz, whispered to me we should bring our guards to get the girls out, a group of strange men appeared, from nowhere again. They had long cloaks on and wooden sticks in their hands."

Gary and Mark nodded. Jason was rocking on his chair.

„Their boss roared at the girls they went overboard, broke some Statue of Secrecy and they would pay dearly for it. He did something with his wand, the girls frost at the spot and two men grabbed them and disappeared together with them. The boss said: ,Obliviate the Muggles.' All of them at once uttered: _Obliviate_ , pointing their wands at us…"

Gary nodded and shivered slightly.

„… and you three stayed standing goggle-eyed, like if your brains were just erased," described Howard. „Robbie and I managed to duck. I felt a slight touch of some kind of energy, it probably only hit my hair what wasn´t enough to make the full effect; fortunately I had the dreadlock those days. Robbie avoided it completely, but, unfortunately, he stood up again and all of them aimed him at once. I stayed on the floor until they all disappeared."

„And we, mean us three plus Robbie, never remembered it, but Rob was odd since that day," finished Mark the tale they heard many times from Howard.

„And we thought he was taking drugs and made him to leave the band," noticed Gary gloomily.

„Poor Rob, they must have given him too much," sighed Mark deeply. „And poor you, we thought you went nuts telling us. I´m so sorry about it, Howard."

„Never mind," said Howard. „It actually caused the first end of Take That, because you thought I was mental and you didn´t want to be with me in the band and I nearly drowned myself because of it. But it´s the past, I´m happy we were able to put it together again."

There was silence. For a moment.

„You!" Jason stopped rocking on his chair and was now pointing at Gary, Mark and Howard, his face nearly angry. „You are trying to tell me that all three of _you_ met true wizards even though _I_ am the only one of us who read all seven volumes of _Harry Potter_ …"

„You are not!" his three bandmates corrected him unisono.

„I read them all as they were published," said Howard, „well, never confessed."

„I read them all in the next month after I saw uncle Lambert´s study," said Mark.

„I read them all in the night and day after the Diamond Jubilee Concert," said Gary, always the most hard-working of them.

„Ridiculous, lads!" Jason was aggrieved. „I read them all four times with all the spin-offs too and saw all the films three times and…"

„Jay, we know you read all possible books and saw all possible films."

„Jay, we know you had nothing better to do in the ten years when we were disbanded."

„Jay, when we meet true Frodo Baggins or Granny Weatherwax or Prince Caspian, we´ll tell you immediately, rest assure."

Jason stood up and began pacing the room. He was angry, but now they could see he probably finally believed them.

He stopped and pointed at his friends again: „I don´t fancy to be a makeweight in the band any more. You will introduce me to a wizard, arrange it whatever you like. Otherwise I will be forced to find some very juicy old videos in my cupboard and put them on YouTube."

The uncensored version of _Do What You Like_ music video… Gary and Howard shivered and exchanged a look, that was a real threat.

„I´m afraid great-uncle Lambert is not the best choice," said Mark. „I´m sure he can do Obliviation, there were really many awards for magical merit in his study, you know."

„Well, then I think," suggested Gary, „I´m on first-names terms with a werewolf who loves your dancing, Jay."


	3. Chapter 3: Take That and party

On MI5 websites there was obviously no contact list of agents, but Gary had the phone number of Randolph Riley. So he sent him a message expressing again his gratitude for his and Mr Stephenson´s contribution to the Diamond Jubilee Concert, and according to Rafael´s interest Take That would be happy to invite him to their next show.

Later that day a reply beeped on Gary´s phone from a common civil number: _Hi G, THX a lot for invitation, Ill count with it :) To pay back, if U still want to meet my teachers, U are invited for our bonfire, 7 Jul. There shall be more w-ves, hope U dont mind :)) Bring J, another guitar welcomed. Better take them all in case they can keep secret :))) CU R._ Gary was nearly disappointed it was not delivered by an owl.

„Owls are still good for delivering packages, but short text messages are quicker this way," grinned Rafael, „of course we´ve adopted modern technology. Our people invented most of it, actually. Jason, Howard, great to meet you. The breakdance battle you did for _Kidz_ on the tour was brilliant, I loved it. Mark, cheers. I thought I was at least one inch taller from you, shame."

It was 7th July, afternoon, and Gary, Mark, Howard and Jason had initially other plans for that day, but they cancelled it without much hesitation. Not even the top-selling British pop group had the opportunity very often to meet a wizard (more wizards?) (possibly including Harry Potter?). Jason had his guitar with him as required but they didn´t have Robbie with them; he was not the best secret-keeper in their opinion and another memory charm could be too much for him. They met Rafael at a public park. It was clear to Howard, Mark and Jason he was crazy as Gary described him. But was he really a wizard, an excellent fighter and a…?

„Of course I´m a werewolf," answered Rafael willingly. „But I´m not eating you, there shall be Bill Weasley´s homemade sausages, yum."

Howard smiled, that was his kind of jokes. Rafael placed something on the ground: „I got a Portkey for you, we must touch it all at once. Or you four at least, I can apparate."

„And where shall we arrive?" asked Gary cautiously.

„Hogsmeade, Tonks-Lupins," answered Rafael, pulling out his wand to activate the Portkey. „Ready?"

In the next moment Take That found themselves in a garden. It was large and there were maybe thirty people hanging around, sitting and chatting together. A couple of long robes could be seen but most of the people were in jeans, tracksuits and other common leisure-time clothes. Still this was clearly _not_ a common party.

„Is this not Hagrid?" whispered Howard to Jason, pointing at an extremely tall and large and wildly-bearded man.

Mark was staring at several kids flying on their brooms above the garden. And Gary found the faces he knew from the encounter one month ago: the Chief Auror laughing to something his red-haired fellow was telling him, both coming from the house, bringing bowls with bread and vegetables. „Hey boys, this is Harry Potter and Ron Weasley as I told you!"

„Yeah, I´m proud to call myself their student," grinned Rafael, „they always participate on Hogwarts Defence Weekends. And now I introduce the two people who lead the courses."

He lead his guests to a great stack of wood, just ready to be lit, where two men were sitting on a bench. One of them, tuning a guitar, was completely grey-haired but with young and cheerful green eyes. His friend had long black hair, a striking flowery shirt (Gary thought he wanted something of that kind for their new music video) and played with something that must have been a magical wand. Both looked like expecting the visit.

„Are you playing Williams for them, Rafael?" asked the black-haired.

„He just lacks the tattoo, otherwise fits," smiled the grey-haired. „Hello, I´m Remus."

„Sirius Black," said his friend, standing up and holding out his hand to shake. „Saw your concert last year, enjoyed it."

„Thought you were dead… both," said Gary who never lost his nerves.

„Yeah, Rowling," Sirius gave a sneer. „We read it, took turns reading aloud…"

„Because nobody managed to read too long due to laughter," chuckled Remus.

„I found the description of your final combat particularly amusing, Moony," said Sirius to his werewolf friend.

„There´s none," corrected him Jason who knew all seven books by heart.

„That´s why it amused me," laughed Sirius.

„JKR´s been obsessed with death," said a pink-haired woman coming to them. „Hi, call me Tonks."

Getting somewhat used to the fact they were speaking with fictional characters face to face – a feeling some of their fans knew very well – Gary, Mark, Howard and Jason learnt that Remus and Tonks had three children and settled here in Hogsmeade what was most comfortable for a Hogwarts professor. ,Defence Weekends' were carried out at Hogwarts once every term and students could practise there fighting. Remus said it was originally invented so that Sirius wasn´t bored once the war was over, what might be just a joke. Sirius lead various kinds of business – most notably a wizard amusement park, some night clubs, casinos etc. – and he preferred to stay single, „not saying I´m saint when it comes to women," he smirked towards Mark and Howard, „and can´t exclude some offspring either here and there, the war years were pretty wild." Gary could imagine why JKR decided better to kill Sirius and omit this part in her books.

The war years really were wild, in sadder ways mostly (not saying there was a topic Sirius wasn´t willing to joke about). Lots of children were bitten by Voldemort´s werewolves. Some of them survived it, and as a result seven young werewolves attended the Hogwarts school. Whole ,pack', as Rafael called them, was now present at the garden party, all being Remus´s close friends. Rafael proclaimed himself a ,beta-male' of the pack and he got all of them into his favourite hobby, dancing. Now it was a perfect occasion to reprise their popular dance number from the school times.

„Remus," Rafael disturbed his teacher from a discussion with Jason about guitar chords, „we´re going to do _Never Forget_ , I need the MP3-to-Magic converter."

„Certainly. It´s in my study, the chest of drawers left from the door, third drawer I guess or the fourth one…"

„Moony, are you a wizard or what?" poked him Sirius, laughing.

„Sorry," Remus pointed his wand over his shoulder with „ _Accio_ " and explained to their visitor from the non-magical world: „You know, our youngest daughter is probably a Squib, non-magical, so we use magic only very little at home, we don´t want her to feel inferior. I´m sorry this devil interrupted you," with that words a little device resembling a flash memory with USB port landed on his palm, and Remus handed it to the ,devil' who departed, laughing, „what were you saying, Jason?"

„That I don´t think at all you are clumsy on guitar," said Jason, „especially when you only began at the age of fourty as you told me. I admire people learning completely new things…" But he couldn´t finish his thought again; Rafael was just announcing loudly their spectacle was beginning.

Children´s choir and then Howard´s lead vocal filled the garden from invisible speakers (or it was likely some magic, of course). Take That knew their old hit _Never Forget_ was sometimes used at school-leaving ceremonies, farewell parties and so on, but they could never see such an amazing dance for that song. Young werewolves did lift figures and synchronised acrobatics that even Howard had to admire.

„Marvelous, kids. Who choreographed it?" wondered Gary.

„Me, of course," Rafael was nearly offended.

Knowing who lead the guitar jam previously too, Jason asked on Remus: „Is there something the bloke can´t do?"

„Yes, to behave himself!" answered several voices at once with the teenage rogue laughing only.

„I´m a poor transfigurer," said Rafael more seriously, „and I think I´m never ever going to try a potion any more. Fortunately I´ve got Laurie for it," he patted his best friend, currently a trainee Healer at St Mungo´s hospital and the ,alpha-male' of their pack.

Once the magical soundsystem was in operation, witches and wizards tried the famous dance routine for _Pray_ together with Take That members what was a great fun. They could tell the same about the whole party. The wizard folk accepted the four visitors, famous in the Muggle world, completely normally: from their point of view Rafael simply brought his friends, and as long as they contributed to the singsong at the bonfire, the better. When Mark regretted he didn´t have his guitar with him too, one was conjured for him immediately. He learnt from Ron Weasley and Dean Thomas that his great-uncle Lambert was really a superb Auror, presently deputy to the Chief Auror and a hero of the final battle against Voldemort („Rowling omitted so many important figures."). They had an important discussion about quidditch and football too, and it was no problem for ,cute little Markie' to talk Ginny into taking him for a little flight on her broom, what was an incredible experience for him.

Gary got more details from Harry about the wizard terrorists at the Diamond Jubilee Concert. He was also curious how magical musical instruments worked, and with Harry, Remus and Bill Weasley they shared some specifics about having three kids at home. Frequent explosions of laughter showed Howard, Sirius, Rafael and George Weasley found their sense of humour pretty alike. The wizards assured Howard and Gary that nobody of them took part in the ,Manchester riot', the case of several teenage witches breaking into Take That´s concerts and rehearsals in 94/95, but that it was a great scandal in the wizard world those days and Minister Fudge nearly lost his office.

„We do listen to Muggle music quite commonly and our youth are ordered strictly to hold back," said Hermione, after she confessed, blushing, she used to have Gary´s poster in her bedroom too. „There were only two cases so far when it got out of control and the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad had to intervene: the Beatlemania and Take That." She was concerned hearing Robbie´s brain was probably damaged by the Obliviators, and suggested to take him to St Mungo´s for a check-up.

The Weasley homemade sausages were really great, although Bill himself enjoyed them raw. Jason learnt this taste preference was not obligatory for people bitten by a werewolf; Remus said he ate normal food and loved sweet meals, chocolate most of all, and his former student Laurie was even a vegetarian. Jason spent a long time talking with the two werewolves. Just thinking it was not only their calm and friendly nature what he felt to share with them…

„Folks!" Tonks alerted everyone to follow her, holding an owl on her shoulder. „There´s a message from Hogwarts, they are testing the new festive lighting of the castle. We shall see how it works."

Their garden really offered an excellent view of the Hogwarts castle, although…

„I´m afraid you´ll not be able to see it," said Remus to his companion when all the company gathered for the view.

„How comes, it´s brilliant!" Jason was astonished. „Gryffindor tower is that one with red and gold lighting, am I right?"

„You can see a tower, Jay?" wondered Howard, looking puzzled.

„I can see nothing, and I must go pee," informed Mark and left to the house.

„What am I supposed to see?" asked Gary too, exchanging an uncomprehending look with Howard.

„You are blind, lads. Look, this direction, it´s so beautiful…"

„That´s fine that you like it, Jason," said Remus, exchanging a meaningful look with Sirius. „Exactly, that´s the Gryffindor tower. Hold this for me, will you," he pulled out his wand and handed it, by the way, to Jason.

„It looks really great… Wow, what´s this?" Jason paid no attention what he was getting from Remus, but touching the magical object he felt something completely strange, strong and pleasant. And the wand in his hand produced a gentle stream of blue and white sparks.

„Blimey!, I´ll try it too…"

„Howard, NO!"

Sirius´s warning came too late. Touching the wand, Howard was thrown off with astonishing power. Another invisible energy lifted him up just before he would crush into the garden wall. But it didn´t prevent his right arm from changing its shape.

„Howard, are you fine? We´ll get you down."

Sirius and Harry were running to him; it was the Chief Auror´s quick reaction what spared him full contact with the stone wall.

„I´m fine. The arm not so much," Howard watched, more amused than terrified, his arm taking the shape of a cactus. „No matter, I actually wanted to drop drums and focus on singing."

„Don´t, Gary would be jealous," advised Sirius and he and Harry moved the patient down with their wands. „Plants are better in a flowerbed, are they? Laurie, this is for you!"

The call wasn´t necessary, the werewolf-Healer just approached and several movements of his wand were enough to return Howard´s limb into its human appearance.

„That´s typical, Dougie, when someone shall be hurt, it´s you," reminded Gary the injury Howard suffered on their 2007 tour.

„Howard, I´m sorry, I didn´t do it intentionally," said Jason, both helping their friend to get up.

„You did nothing, Jason, it was the wand," explained Remus, just taking it back from him. „My fault. I´m very sorry, Howard."

„Never mind, I just learnt not to touch magical things," Howard assured himself his arm not only looked but also worked properly. „By the way, Gaz, I want you to sing _Today I´ve Lost You_ at my funeral, if I die first. Just tell me you wizards, how comes he could hold the wand and I couldn´t? Of course I don´t wish you to be blasted off and changed into anything, Jay."

„Excellent question," said Remus. „I´ll explain it in fifteen minutes, hopingly. Excuse me," and he ran to the house, leaving the others with questioning looks.

„I think it was because I was allowed explicitly to hold the wand while you took it without permision," said Jason what he thought could be in accord with magical laws.

Sirius, Harry and Laurie shook their head in disagreement and watched Jason carefully.

Another figure emerged from the darkness, it was Mark: „Listen, lads, I just saw Remus going somewhere through the fireplace! You look oddly. Did I miss another magic?"

Remus was back in less than fifteen minutes. He was bringing a large, thick, heavy book in peeling leather. Harry went to cast light with his wand for him. And Jason and Gary knew what the werewolf was going to say before he began.

„This is the Hogwarts _Book of Admittance_ ," said Remus in a serious voice. „Every witch and every wizard is written there magically right after they are born." He opened it at page titled 1970 and everyone came to look over his shoulder. Several lines above Bill Weasley´s birth record, there was very clearly in the magical silver ink:

 _10 July: Jason Thomas Orange, Manchester_

And a note in Dumbledore´s handwriting added: _Letter of invitation rejected_.

There was silence. All of them were staring at Jason. In spite of it, he was entirely calm, wearing some kind of dreamy smile.

„I heard our song _Greatest Day_ on the radio this afternoon going to the meeting with Rafael," he said, „I thought it must have been meaningful. And since I found myself here, it was strange but I felt like I knew you for ages," he saw Remus and Harry and the others, „and not because I read all the books four times and saw all the films and so on. It was like understanding and belonging. You know," Jason turned to Gary, Mark and Howard, „that I always felt to be different, all my life searching for something or somewhere, not knowing what or where it should be. Now I think," he looked back at the two wizards, „I don´t search any more."

And Remus Lupin and Harry Potter smiled back at him.

The next morning found Take That members going home in Harry Potter´s flying Range Rover, spacious enough to hold his, Ron´s, Rafael´s and Laurie´s family too very comfortably.

„Do they not see us?" asked Gary when a private jet met them.

„No, the car is invisible, for radars too," answered Harry laconically. „By the way, I should repeat to you you must keep our secrecy before any other Muggles. Otherwise we would have to…"

„Otherwise I´ll bite them and it´s done," Rafael performed a maniac grimace.

„Rafael, that was a bad joke," reproved him Laurie but Howard laughed: „I reckon somebody wouldn´t mind," squinting at Gary. „Did you say, Rafael, that werewolves are never balding?"

„Yeah, and other interesting properties," confirmed Rafael, grinning, but Gary scratched the top of his head with a slight nervosity what Laurie noticed: „Does it bother you, Gary? Seriously, if it´s a problem for you…"

„Can you solve it for Gary?" asked Rafael.

„Definitely," nodded the potions specialist, „I´ll bring you something this afternoon, tell me where to find you."

Gary thought he would write a song _I Love Werewolves_ , if it wasn´t against the Statue of Secrecy. Still there was one piece in their repertoire…

„I´m afraid we shouldn´t do _Could It Be Magic_ any more," was Mark thinking aloud.

„No, the other way round, and we could cover Queen´s _A Kind of Magic_ too," suggested Howard.

Gary shrugged: „No idea. Jason, what do you think? Hey, Jay?"

„Jay, can you hear us? You said nothing since we took off."

„Jay, are you alive?"

„I am. Do what you like and don´t disturb me," a grumbling voice sounded from behind the open _Book of Spells_. „Muggles." There was a Hogwarts Library catalogue number on its boards and Jason was thinking whether he could persuade Headmistress McGonagall to put the Sorting Hat on his head when giving the book back. Or on the occasion of his birthday the upcoming Monday. Privately and just for the matter of interest, but he longed to know which house he belonged to.


	4. Chapter 4: Four years later

In 2016, asked by journalists about next year´s 25th anniversary of Take That and possible participation of their two former members, Howard Donald admitted Robbie Williams was going to do some new songs and the tour with them. Whereas „Jason is in his place where he is now and he´s not got any intention at the moment to be back in the band."

He couldn´t specify the ,his place' because of the Statue of Secrecy. It was sad for them when Jason left for good in September 2014, after he began teaching music and philosophy as option subjects at Hogwarts. But they were also happy for their friend´s finally finding the very right place and way of life for him, what was obvious from Jay whenever he met them in his current robes (in Ravenclaw colours mostly). And there were also some advantages about it: Howard, Gary and Mark got effective anti-papparazzi spells from their wizard friend and he promised them some really special effects for the anniversary tour. It´ll be awesome, thought Howard. Could be even better if Rafael would dance in their crew as Gary asked him. The werewolf was initially eager about it, but he had to decline due to family reasons, realizing his wife was expecting their third child. Howard began calling three children „Take That & party level". By the way, Mark´s oldest would soon be eleven, and having great-uncle Lambert´s genes in mind, there was some hope to expect a green-written, scarlet-sealed letter delivered by an owl…


End file.
